Leprechaun Binoculars!

St. Patrick’s Day is getting close! Have you noticed someone has been causing mischief around your house? This time of year they say there are leprechauns lurking about and they like to play tricks on people. They are so quick and small that they are hard to see. But here’s a trick for you – make some leprechaun binoculars to help you look for the leprechauns!

You’ll need 2 empty toilet paper rolls or 1 empty paper towel roll (cut in half), some construction paper scissors, glue, markers, a piece of string or yarn and whatever you want to decorate with like mini pom poms or stickers, etc. First cut a piece of construction paper the length of each empty toilet paper roll and long enough to wrap around it.

Glue one end of the piece of construction paper to the empty toilet paper roll, then wrap the paper around and glue the other end.

Hold it in place a little bit till the paper stays in place.

Do the same thing for the second roll.

Glue or use double sided tape to hold the 2 rolls together so they look like a pair of binoculars. Decorate them in ways that might be appealing to a leprechaun. They seem to like green, white, black and gold or the colors of the rainbow. Here I added some mini pom poms.

I added a rainbow and a shamrock to my leprechaun binoculars. What will you add to yours?

Poke a hole at the top of the binoculars on the two outside edges. Tie one end of a piece of string or yarn to each hole so that you can wear your binoculars around your neck.

And there you are! You’re ready to go looking for leprechauns! Happy Hunting!! 🙂

Cuteness Overload for St. Patrick’s Day

Well, I hurt my eye last night and it’s making it hard to craft or use the computer today, so I thought I would share someone else’s awesomeness today. St. Patrick’s Day is just a week from today! Wow, we are moving right along through March! I got an email from Bakerella yesterday about how she makes Mini Shamrock Shake Cakes and I just had to share these with you!

Shamrock Shake Mini Cake

How cute are those??! Wouldn’t they be fun for a little family St. Patrick’s Day celebration? Cupcakes and frosting and sprinkles, oh my! Here is a link to Bakerella’s website so you can find the recipe for making these cuties!

https://www.bakerella.com/mini-shamrock-shake-cakes/

Enjoy!! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #31 – Juices

Here we go with Taste Testing Tuesday #31! (Can you believe we’ve done that many taste tests?!) Today we’re looking at JUICE! To make this a little more fun, I used little tiny cups. The package doesn’t say how big they are but I’m going to say they are 1-2 ounces. (They are actually little shot cups but we don’t use them for that.) I found them at our local Dollar Tree store.

I used 5 different kinds of juice for my taste test. You can use however many you like, of course. Using juices that are different colors makes it more appealing to the kiddos. I bought a couple of small bottles of juice to go with some juice I already had on hand. Pour a little sample of each kind of juice into tiny cups for each person doing the taste test.

These are the juices I used:

#1.) Raspberry Lemonade.

#2.) Apple Juice

#3.) Grape Juice

#4.) Cranberry Juice

#5.) Pineapple Orange Banana Juice

Now for a couple quick suggestions for some added fun. 🙂 Have a piece of paper handy and for each kind of juice, have the kids draw a face representing what they thought of the juice they tasted. They could draw a smiley face if they liked it, a face with a straight mouth for “It’s ok, but not amazing.” and a frowning face for “No, thank you!” A second fun suggestion is to mix some of the juices together and see what they think. For instance, grape and cranberry or grape and apple or cranberry and apple, etc.

Which juice is the absolute best tasting juice? I think grape juice or grape with cranberry was my favorite. I hope you’ll have loads of fun on this Taste Testing Tuesday! 🙂

Inexpensive Suncatcher Fun

It’s Monday Funday and I have a nice inexpensive craft to tell you about today. I found a cute unicorn suncatcher at Walmart the other day…only $0.97!! (My guess is that some other craft stores likely have them too.) That is the regular price, not a sale price. 🙂

One thing to note is the picture shows 4 colors on the unicorn while there are actually only 3 paints. But it looks cute anyways, so I didn’t find that to be a problem. I suggest laying out some newspaper or paper towels before letting the kiddos start painting. The paint is fairly thin but I think that is because this is a suncatcher and you want the light to be able to shine through.

There weren’t any instructions but here’s what I did: the suncatcher is smooth on one side and has ridges on the other. I painted on the side with ridges. I stirred each paint with a toothpick when I was ready to use it. I also used the toothpick to paint the really small areas. I started with the blue/teal paint.

You can paint the unicorn any way you like. I’m just showing you how I chose to do it. Next I painted with the purple paint.

And finally I used the pink paint.

Here it is against a better background.

And here it is with the light behind it.

I thought it was a rather fun project for kids for only $0.97! And there was some paint leftover. I’m pretty sure you can also buy the unpainted suncatchers at Walmart (not in a kit). So you might be able to make 2 suncatchers for $0.97! 😉

Make Super Simple Bookmarks

If you’re looking for a super easy craft for the kids to make, look no further! These bookmarks are very easy to make and the kids will love using them to mark their places in the books they are reading. All you need is some thin cardboard or cardstock, markers and stickers. I actually used the piece of cardboard that comes in a large box of tea bags and the cardboard from the back of a small notepad.

Cut the cardboard or cardstock to the size you want the bookmarks to be. I kept one of mine the size it was for a large bookmark and the other piece I cut in half for 2 smaller bookmarks.

Next grab the markers and stickers and turn the kids loose to decorate the bookmarks however they like.

I made one with Minion Pirate stickers. Ahoy, matey!

For the second bookmark I used some owl stickers, some bug stickers and added some dots using my markers.

Last, but not least, I made a bookmark with a few kitten stickers and 2 flower stickers.

This is a super simple craft project but the kids will enjoy it and maybe be encouraged to spend more time reading so they can use their new bookmarks. 🙂 Have fun!

A Rainbow From Donuts!

St. Patrick’s Day is coming! Will you be looking for gold at the end of the rainbow? Would your kids be happy to find a DONUT at the end of the rainbow? I found the cutest rainbow made from food that would be great for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration! Check this out!

Rainbow Cloud Donuts for St. Patrick's Day. These rainbow treats are perfect for a festive breakfast idea or a class party activity.

It’s just so cute I had to share! This came from Painted Confetti and here is the link to the great idea!

Rainbow Cloud Donuts for St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast

Thanks go to Brandy for this super cute idea! Have fun!

Clearance Items at Joann Fabric and Craft Stores

Are you looking for some small craft kits to add to your kids Easter baskets? If you are, head to your nearest Joann Fabric and Craft Store and check out their clearance items! They have a great assortment of little craft kits at some nice discounted prices. I’m guessing each store may have different things on clearance, but here are a few things on sale at my Joann Fabric and Craft Store.

Little Makers Wood Painting Kit. This cute little wooden kitty kit comes with a little paintbrush and 3 colors of paint. Clearance price is $1.97.

Little Makers Paint and Stitch Kit. This one is cute as it requires painting the heart but also has some string crafting to add a nice extra touch. Clearance price is $2.97.

Some items are take an additional 25% off the red sticker clearance price! There are plaster painting kits, shrink art kits, bead art kits, string art kits, pom pom kits, wooden ornaments to color with markers kits and suncatcher kits. Wow! Not all of each kind of kit was on sale.

Another section has canvas coloring kits and canvas painting kits, foam kits, foam mosaic kits, felt kits and toilet paper roll kits.

Also close by are more assorted craft kits, but be careful which ones you grab because not everything is on clearance. The clearance items will have a red clearance sticker on their hook.

One more nicely priced item for kids that I saw is the CraZArt Modelife modeling material. (Similar to Playdough) There was about 5 colors to choose from. These were on clearance for $2.97.

So there were lots of fun products at great prices! Grab them up before they are gone! 🙂 Happy shopping!

Taste Testing Tuesday #30 – Shredded Chicken

Do you ever feel super rushed at meal time and you need something really fast, but tasty enough for the pickiest eaters? (Does that sound like every day at your house?!) Today’s Taste Testing Tuesday can give you some mouthwatering quick ideas using shredded chicken. Sure, you can buy chicken and cook it up and then shred it yourself, but for some super easy ideas we’re going to use a can of cooked chicken. Easy peasy!

For today’s suggestions, just open the can, drain the broth and shred the chicken with a couple of forks.

We’re going to talk about some ideas where you are just adding a topping to the chicken, not adding it to a casserole or dish. Ready, set, GO!

#1.) Italian Dressing Chicken. This one is great with just Italian dressing drizzled over the top. It would be great to add to a salad too. Can use it cold or hot.

#2.) Gravy over Chicken. Open a premade jar of gravy for this one. You could also heat up some Bob Evans premade mashed potatoes to go under this kind of chicken. Or break up a piece of toast and top it with the chicken and gravy. Much better when heated.

#3.) Ranch Dressing Chicken. This one would also be great added to a salad or put it in a bun and add a slice of swiss cheese for a quick sandwich. You could also chop up some hard boiled eggs to add in and have some ranch chicken salad. Good warm or cold. (I prefer cold.)

#4.) Chicken with Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella Cheese. Open a jar of your favorite pasta sauce and sprinkle on some mozzarella or Italian blend cheese. You could also put this on top of spaghetti. Best when heated.

#5.) Chicken with Honey Mustard. Do your kids like dipping chicken nuggets in Honey Mustard sauce? This will taste similar to that. You could add this on top of half of a toasted English muffin. Can be eaten hot or cold.

#6.) BBQ Chicken. Top your chicken with your favorite barbeque sauce or stir the sauce into the chicken, heat and add it to a bun. It’s finger-lickin’ good! Can be used cold, but is scrumptious when heated!

There are lots of other ways to fix shredded chicken that I haven’t shown here. Like adding taco seasoning, salsa or sauce to the chicken and rolling it up in a soft tortilla with some cheese and lettuce. Or how about mixing it with some soy sauce or teriyaki sauce and using it to top some cooked rice? I hope you’ll make yourselves a chart and keep track of who likes which kind of shredded chicken the best. And I hope it’s sparked some ideas in your mind for some quick and simple meals. Enjoy! 🙂

Did March Come in Like a Lion?

Have you heard the old folklore that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”? Or sometimes it’s the other way around and it comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. 😉 March can be an interesting month for those of us that live in the northern part of the United States. Today was cloudy and windy, so for us, it came in like a lion. Here’s a fun little craft the kids can do in honor of the first day of March.

Supplies you’ll need include construction paper, pencil, ruler, 2 Styrofoam or paper plates, glue, scissors, wiggly eyes, a marker and cotton balls. A compass for drawing a circle will come in handy or a small bowl the size of the bottom of the plates you’ll be using works great.

Let’s start with the lion. Draw a circle on yellow construction paper that is approximately the size of the bottom of the plates. You can draw a circle around a bowl, if you have one about the right size. It doesn’t have to be the perfect size, just close will work. 🙂

Cut out the circle using your scissors.

Glue the circle to the inside bottom of the plate.

Now glue 2 wiggly eyes in place.

Using your marker, draw a nose and mouth for your lion.

Now cut about 10 strips of yellow construction paper that are approximately 3/4″ wide by 3″ long. They don’t need to be perfect, just around that size.

Cut another 10 strips the same size from orange construction paper. Alternating colors, glue one end of each strip around outside edge of the lion’s face.

ROAR!! GROWL!! Great job! Your lion is complete! Now let’s make the lamb of March. Start by tracing around the bowl again, this time on black construction paper.

Cut out the black circle and apply glue to one side.

Position it on the inside bottom of the second plate.

Glue 2 wiggly eyes in place.

Cut 2 ear shapes from the black construction paper.

And glue in place.

Glue cotton balls all around the outside edge of the plate. Cover up some of the edge of the black face too. Add a nose and mouth, if you like.

BAA! BAA! And there you have finished your lamb too! Great job! Now, which way did March come in for you at your house? It will be interesting to watch and see if March goes out in the opposite way it came in! Have fun making your March lion and lamb! 🙂